Two more rehearsals done.

We've had a couple more rehearsals in the run-up to the JC Tour.

The first was moderately successful, although only four of us could make it. It was St Patrick's Day, so we marked the occasion by enjoying some potcheen and hitting each other over the head with a shille   shallallal   shileigh   large knotted stick. Actually, we didn't. Every man and his dog, from Barraco Barmer to Mother Theresa seem to become conveniently Oirish for the day, so we felt we didn't need to.

The second was a full house except John, who once again is enjoying a British Seedhouses conference while surrounded by lashing of white powder. There was something very odd about this rehearsal: it was one of the best we can remember - and after over five years of rehearsals, that's quite something. Not sure what was behind it. It could have been the fact that we tried playing everything 50% faster than normal - but I suspect it was because there's a realisation that the JC Tour kicks off on Sunday.

Let's hope we didn't peak too soon.